A method of obtaining transgenic turfgrass plants by an Agrobacterium-mediated transformation protocol is disclosed. The protocol makes use of a modified Agrobacterium vector system in which selectable marker genes and other genes of interest are operably linked to strong promoters from monocotyledenous plants, such as actin and ubiquitin promoters, that function efficiently in turfgrass cells. Transgenic turfgrass plants of several species, produced by the Agrobacterium-mediated transformation method, are also disclosed.